The Week in Star Wars returns with bad news coming from the Lucasfilm camp, Rian Johnson’s comments on The Last Jedi and a load of toy images…
Right, so let’s look at the Colin Trevorrow situation then. It was revealed this week that Trevorrow (Jurassic World) had become the fourth director since the Disney-era to vacate the director’s chair, exiting Star Wars: Episode IX over creative differences. “Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX,” the Lucasfilm press release said. “Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process, but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.” The Hollywood Reporter added that rumours of Trevorrow leaving had been circling since June just before the release of The Book of Henry – which was roundly panned by critics – and the script has been the key issue between Trevorrow and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, with Trevorrow’s drafts not meeting the right criteria leading to Jack Thorne (Wonder) stepping in.
And according to Vulture, Trevorrow was let go for being “unbearable”. The site writes, “He had an egotistical point of view— and he was always asserting that. When the reviews for Book of Henry came out, there was immediately conjecture that [Kathleen Kennedy] was going to dump him because they weren’t thrilled with working with him anyway. He’s a difficult guy. He’s really, really, really confident. Let’s call it that.”
Of course the first people to think of in this instance is Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were fired from the Han Solo spin-off movie a couple of months ago during production. The Hollywood Reporter’s report states that Trevorrow and Kennedy have had an “unmanageable” relationship, and this decision could be a reaction to the Lord & Miller situation: not wanting to repeat that PR nightmare again. Along with Trevorrow and Lord & Miller, Tony Gilroy replaced Gareth Edwards on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Josh Trank was fired following the stories of his tumultuous run on Fantastic Four.
The rumoured names to be stepping into Trevorrow’s shoes are Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), both of whom have excellent relationships with Kennedy. For this writer’s money, Lucasfilm could save themselves a lot of bad PR by bringing in someone like Patty Jenkins. She has a lot of buzz around her now following the brilliant success of Wonder Woman, and she would do a fantastic job on Star Wars: Episode IX…
…Of course, the Flickering Myth writing staff have been very interested in this topic. George Chrysostomou tackles Disney’s director problem, while Samuel Brace thinks we should ignore the negatives and celebrate the positives…
…Speaking of Rian Johnson, and the director has been talking a lot about Star Wars: The Last Jedi this week. First of all in an interview with Empire, Johnson talked about the secrecy of Supreme Leader Snoke by comparing him to The Emperor. “We got the whole story of Palpatine’s rise to power in the prequels, but in the original films he’s exactly what he needs to be, which is just ‘The Emperor. He’s a dark force: the scary thing behind the thing. That was entirely how I approached Snoke. I wasn’t interested in explaining where he came from or telling his history, except where it serves this story…”
…Johnson also confirmed a popular fan theory – which is that Luke Skywalker is indeed The Last Jedi in the film’s title. “It’s in the opening crawl of Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Johnson told The New York Times. “Luke Skywalker, right now, is the last Jedi. There’s always wiggle room in these movies — everything is from a certain point of view — but coming into our story, he is the actual last of the Jedi. And he’s removed himself and is alone on this island, for reasons unknown.” So, I guess that clears that up…
…Sticking with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Mark Hamill spoke with Empire to either debunk a huge rumour surrounding December’s hotly-anticipated movie, or he is being the internet’s biggest troll. “Oh baby, would I love to play my own evil twin! It’d be great because you could maybe not reveal it’s Evil Luke until the real Luke shows up. We could watch this guy undermining the good guys secretly, maybe even killing a supporting character out of everyone’s sight so they all go, ‘What’s going on? He’s crazy!’ And then, of course, the good Luke shows up.” Let’s chalk this one up and assume there is only one Luke Skywalker in this world…
…Lastly on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Disney and Lucasfilm released a couple of new promotional posters along with illustrated character portraits featuring Rey, Luke, Leia, Kylo Ren, Finn and Poe – Check them out here – and we got a couple of new images featuring Luke, Rey, Finn and Poe. Check those out here…
…Another one for the rumour corner, as Making Star Wars are claiming it won’t just be Han Solo and Lando Calrissian who have a different look in next year’s Han Solo: A Star Wars Story, as the iconic spaceship the Millennium Falcon is said to have a new paint scheme similar to a toy produced for its appearance in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith…
…Some toy news for you now, and Hot Toys revealed its third series of Cosbaby Bobble-Heads for Star Wars: The Force Awakens which includes three collectible sets – Han Solo & Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker & Rey, and Rey & BB-8 along with three large sized Cosbabies of Kylo Ren, Captain Phasma, and a First Order Stormtrooper Officer. Check those out here. Sideshow also unveiled its Premium Format Captain Phasma figure which is based on the likeness of Gwendoline Christie’s First Order officer from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (check that out here) and Hot Toys unveiled its upcoming sixth scale Movie Masterpiece Series Kylo Ren figure which is based on the likeness of Adam Driver in December’s hotly-anticipated sequel Star Wars: The Last Jedi – which you can check out here. Lastly, Funko has revealed its New York Comic Con exclusive Star Wars merchandise which includes Pop! Vinyl figures for K-2SO, Saw Gerrera, Jyn Erso, and a Death Star Droid from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a Dengar Pop! vinyl, and a Pop! Deluxe Boba Fett with Slave I. Check those out here…
…Ricky Church reviews Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Captain Phasma #1, which you can read here.
…And finally, here are your comic book previews for the week. First up is IDW’s new all-ages Star Wars series Star Wars Adventures: Introducing an exciting new era in all-ages Star Wars comics! Each issue in this monthly series will feature two stories, starring your favorite Star Wars characters from all the films! This debut issue will reveal Rey’s early adventures on Jakku as well as a comical tale of clone catastrophe! Next up is Star Wars #36: The Empire has held Threepio captive for far too long. There’s no way they are prepared to deal with this rescue. That’s right – Artoo is ready to take action! And finally, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #12: VADER IS BACK!
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth, the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast and the author of Lights, Camera, GAME OVER!: How Video Game Movies Get Made. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen.
